Dilara Ermanoglu, 24, was one of the 76 victims of a fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, Turkey, which went up in flames, as her father suffered a heart attack amid the horror
A devastated father whose daughter perished when a hotel at a Turkey ski resort went up in flames suffered a heart attack outside the hospital where her body was being kept.
Dilara Ermanoglu, 24, was one of 76 killed when the exclusive £1,000-a-night 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya was engulfed in fire in the early hours of yesterday. Dozens of guests were burned alive while others fell to their deaths trying to leap from windows or escape by climbing down knotted sheets as the blaze ripped through the building.
Dilara’s horrified dad Ferman Ermanoglu rushed to the hospital where the victims were taken from the luxury resort hoping his daughter had survived, but collapsed when he learned the truth. Paramedics were able to save him and carried him inside the clinic. He is understood to be recovering.
At least two of the 76 people known to have died had jumped from the building to escape the fire, suffering fatal injuries. Footage shows the fire smoulder at the hotel as rescue services line up outside to tackle the flames.
Shocking photos revealing the extent of the blaze show smoke continuing to billow from the hotel hours after it broke out, with glimpses inside showing furniture still smouldering. Images from inside meanwhile reveal its charred interior, with a blackened chandelier the only remaining intact feature.
Turkey’s interior minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed there were at least 51 other people injured. Authorities have since arrested four people – including the business owner, the country’s justice secretary said.
At least one of the 51 injured was seriously ill in hospital, while 17 have been discharged. The hotel had 161 rooms with most accommodation in the Koroglu mountains resort having been fully booked out due to it being peak ski season.
The fire is understood to have broken out at around 3.30am in the hotel’s restaurant. One guest, Atakan Yelkovan, told IHA news agency how he and his wife were able to escape in the nick of time , claiming their smoke alarm “did not go off”.
He said: “We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t, there were flames. We went downstairs and came here [outside].”
The country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to take “all necessary steps” to “hold those responsible accountable”. Six prosecutors are investigating the cause of the fire, which started in the fourth floor restaurant of the wooden-clad hotel and spread rapidly through the upper floors. At least nine people have been detained by police for questioning, including the hotel owner.
